The Life and Times of Iruka Sensei Camping
by beyondthecrystalsea
Summary: A series of short stories about Iruka's life. In this episode he takes his pre Genin class on an overnight camp out. Hilarity ensues. deals with friendship and S'mores.
1. Chapter 1

Greetings, This is a story for my husband, a teacher like Iruka sensei. Some of his experiences were my inspiration for this story.

I don't own Naruto but I wish I did.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

" Ok class, you're dismissed." announced the sensei with a glance at the clock.

"If anyone has permission slips they didn't hand forward, this is your last chance." He yelled over the noise of chairs scraping and feet running out the door. One more piece of yellow paper fluttered onto his desk as a small girl with black pigtails ran after her classmates.

"Thank you Hanabi." He yelled after her. The exhausted teacher sank wearily down into the desk chair. He stared at the yellow papers sitting on the side of his desk. With the Hyuga girl, every one of the pre Genin students would be going on the field trip tomorrow. He didn't know whether to be pleased that the parents had felt comfortable enough to entrusted the teachers with their precious children or worn-out at the thought of watching thirty students overnight on a camping trip. 'Who thought up this cockamamie idea any way?' he asked himself. 'Oh yea, that would be Me.' was his chagrinned thought.

The brown haired teacher tidied his desk. He walked down the rows straightening chairs and picking up paper, getting ready to leave.

"Iruka Sensei." The teacher looked up to see one of the elementary teachers walk into the room with a note. She handed it to him with a smile.

"The Principal asked me to drop this off to you." "Are you ok? You look a little stressed." She asked with concern. Iruka was fond of Emi- Sama. She was an excellent addition to the school and infinitely patient with the mini-nins in her class.

"Oh, I'm just getting ready to do the overnight trip with the two classes. We've got thirty going this year."

Emi- Sama cringed. I'm so glad we don't do that with our age group. I wouldn't have any hair left."

"I may not by the time we're done." Iruka chuckled. He opened the note as he talked.

"OH CRAP" he moaned loudly. The other teacher jumped and looked at Iruka in astonishment.

"Kusushi- sensei's wife had her baby early. He can't chaperone the overnighter." "Poor woman, of all times for this to happen, Oh shit what am I gonna do?" Emi- Sama watched the sensei talk to himself in some small surprise. Iruka sensei never cursed. The well mannered teacher got loud sometimes but he was a stickler for manners and drummed them into his students too.

"Maybe there are some teachers left in the teacher's lounge that could help. Emi suggested.

"You're brilliant." Iruka beamed at her and quickly ran out the door. The halls were empty and unfortunately, so was the teacher's lounge when he got there. To make it worse, he had to report for duty at the mission's desk in half an hour. 'Crap,' maybe he could find someone from the people in the mission's office. It was worth a try anyway. The Chunin walked back to his classroom to gather up his work, and headed to the Hokage tower.

"Hey Iruka!" he was greeted by Kotetsu as he walked in the office. His partner in crime, Izumo was filing papers and waved at him. He remembered that he had worked for Kotetsu one weekend last month. Maybe he could get them to help him out.

"What's up, Iruka? You look a little stressed." Izumo asked as he joined the other Chunin at the desk.

"Kusushi san can't chaperone the field trip this weekend. His wife had their baby early." "What are you guys doing this weekend? His fellow Chunin looked at him in horror.

"Sorry Iruka, We've got guard duty all this weekend." answered Kotetsu.

"Yea, and for the first time I think I'm glad we do." said Izumo. "Why don't you ask some of the parents to chaperone? Didn't Inuzuka Tsume help you the one year?

"I would, but I don't really have time to contact anyone. Besides, I'm never asking a woman again. You guys were like a dog with a bone with the dating jokes. Izumo kept calling me 'Top Dog'. Kiba wanted to know why you called me that." Izumo chuckled at the memory.

"As for fathers, I'll just call Hyuga Hiashi up and see what he's doing this weekend. I bet he'd be a fun guy on a campout." The teacher grinned, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Man, Iruka, I don't know how you put up with those little ankle bitters the way you do." "

"Ah, they're not so bad, replied the teacher distractedly. "How did you end up with guard duty ALL weekend? Don't they rotate that?" "What'd you do to upset Tsunade- Sama this time?" he asked his friends with a smirk.

"What makes you think we upset the Hokage?" asked the shorter man.

"Well…" began the other Chunin simultaneously. They looked at each other sheepishly.

"To tell you the truth, we drank her sake." said Izumo in a rush. Iruka was flabbergasted.

"You did what?!!" he yelled. Several people turned to look at the teacher, and a flush covered his cheeks.

"Well it's like this," said Kotetsu. "She had just made us carry three filing cabinets worth of files up to her office." "You know it was kind of hot there a couple of days ago." "We were really thirsty after wards. There was a bottle of sake sitting on the table beside her desk."

"And there were some glasses there too." added his friend. "It was really good sake, I think it was a gift from the Rain ambassador." "It was really smooth going down."

"Yea, but then she walked back into the room. The Hokage can use some really colorful language when she's upset." Kotetsu assured him.

Iruka had to laugh. Trust him to have friends stupid enough to steal sake from Tsunade.

"You guys should be glad she only gave you guard duty." said a new voice. The Chunin turned to see Genma walk over to join the group. He flicked his senbon with his tongue. "If it was anybody else, she'd be taking body parts." he grinned at his friends.

"Actually, she threatened that" replied the Chunin. They crossed their legs at the remembered words.

More Jounin started entering the office. It was nearing the end of the day and many of the teams were returning and handing in their scrolls. Iruka racked his brains for some candidate to ask. As trained killers, most of the ninja wouldn't be caught dead around the younger children. They had little patience for the often loud and rambunctious mini-nin.

He saw Naruto and Kakashi walk in with Asuma and Kurenai's teams. That gave him an excellent idea. He excused himself to Genma and walked over to the group of Nin. The three Jounin looked up at him. It was unusual for the no nonsense Chunin to leave his post when the room was busy.

"Asuma do you have a minute?" he asked the older man. The group turned to him, causing his face to redden under their scrutiny.

"I have a favor to ask you, are you busy this weekend?" at the teacher's words, Kakashi's ears perked up. Iruka immediately saw his mistake.

"Stop right there, you pervert." He told the silver haired man.

"What?" said the Jounin, trying to sound innocent?

"Yea, "What" says the man who owns every volume of Itchi itchi." He was in full teacher alert immediately. "Don't give me that." He gave the perverted sensei the look that made children quake and grown men wish they were someplace else.

Asuma chuckled at the two. They were like a pit bull and a wildcat when the two friends got started. Asuma actually thought that a pit bull would have more sense than Kakashi did when he was provoking the younger man. Iruka in full sensei mode was a force to be reckoned with.

"What can I help you with, Iruka sensei? Asked Sarutobi san. Iruka brought his mind back to the matter at hand, ignoring the pouting Jounin beside him.

"This weekend is the camp over for the pre Genin. The teacher who was supposed to help me had a family emergency and can't come now. Konohomaru is one of the students. I thought you might like to chaperone and spent the night with him. If I can't find another adult, I'm going to have to cancel. That means a lot of paperwork I'd rather not go through if I didn't have to." The teacher explained a hopeful look on his face.

"Why didn't you ask me?" questioned the copynin. "I helped last time."

"Last time you sat with Tsume and talked about dogs, and then you started reading your porn in front of the kids until Tsume whacked you on the head." said his friend in exasperation. "I need a responsible adult."

Asuma listened to the two men bicker; he looked at Kurenai for approval since he was supposed to spend the weekend with her. At her silent nod he interrupted the argument.

"Alright, sounds like fun. What do I need and when should I be there?" said the Jounin.

"It starts at noon at the Nara's." Iruka nodded at Shikamaru. "They've graciously agreed to host us. We'll be camping by their lake. Shikaku, Chouza, and Inochi usually show up and help until dark." He said, mentioning Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru's parents. "I think they like to laugh at the pre Genin actually."

"Just bring your camping equipment. All the food and supplies are already taken care of. We'll be done at noon on Saturday." Instructed the teacher.

"Ah, that is so awesome, Iruka Sensei." Iruka turned his head to see a mop of blonde hair framing bright blue eyes dancing with excitement. "We had so much fun camping with you. Can we come too?"

"Sorry Naruto, This is for pre Genin only." He ruffled the blonde hair and smiled at his former student. As much as he loved Naruto he was secretly glad that he and Konohomaru would not be at the same campout. His nerves would never take the strain.

Naruto turned to Kiba, "Remember when Akamaru cornered that squirrel and we stuck it in the girl's tent." Iruka remembered. which was exactly why the older boys would not be coming.

"Besides" Iruka reminded Naruto. "You camp with Kakashi sensei all the time. You're coming back from a mission, right?"

"Oh" Naruto moaned. "Don't get me started, Iruka sensei. Wait until you hear what Baka- sensei did this time." The blonde began to rattle off every imagined insult the Jounin had dealt him on his mission.

Iruka turned amused eyes to his silver haired friend. The copy nin loved to provoke the hyperactive ninja just to see what colorful language he would come up with next. Iruka dutifully chastised the man, but it was amusing to get the hyper nin wound up. Brown eyes met one eye turned up in a smile.

"Tell you what, Naruto. Saturday afternoon we'll have Raman. I'm buying."

The figure in the orange jumpsuit latched onto Iruka, hopping up and down in excitement. Over the top of the spiky hair, Iruka felt dark eyes watching them. Iruka turned a small smile to the raven haired Uchiha. "Would you like to join us, Sasuke? We can always use company on our Ramen excursions." offered the kind hearted man.

"Yea teme, come with us." said the blonde excitedly. "Iruka sensei will believe me if you tell him too." "No thank you, Iruka sensei" was the quiet reply. Iruka supposed that was something. He usually got the 'patented Uchiha Glare.' At least a polite 'thank you' was an improvement.

Kakashi watched Iruka excuse himself and head back to the mission's desk. His team got in line to hand in their scrolls and he listened with idle curiosity as the boys of the three teams talked. He saw Naruto and Kiba talking excitedly to Chouji and Shino. Something about the attitude of the first two put the man on alert. He wouldn't put it past them to pull some pranks on the campers. He and his dogs might just have to show up at the campout too.

His mind at ease, Iruka finished his shift at the mission's desk and prepared to head home. Izumo and Kotetsu gave him some last minute grief about his fieldtrip for the next day.

"Look at it this way guys," Iruka smirked. "You'll be up all night on guard duty, but I'll be up all night with s'mores." "Chocolate covers a multitude of sins, gentlemen." They exchanged laughs as they exited the building for the night.

Iruka went to bed early that night. He treated this like the highest ranked mission. After all, when he left his bed the next morning it would be 36 stressful hours before he would see it again. Early in his teaching career he had tried to sleep on these trips, but had come to realize that that was impossible. It just depleted his strength to constantly be getting up and down. Beside, setting next to his sleeping students under the stars was one of the few precious moments of a trip like this.

They were so angelic when they were asleep, even Konohomaru.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

A/n I don't think the little rug rats are as innocent as Iruka seems to think.

Review and tell me what you think. Chouza and Shikamaru were making dessert over the fire.


	2. Chapter 2

Greetings, This is a story for my husband, a teacher like Iruka sensei. Some of his experiences were my inspiration for this story. Hope it makes you laugh.

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Iruka arrived an hour early to school. For all his grumbling, this really was one of his favorite activities of the year. The students would be helping to carry the supplies to the camp site. The walk would do them good and get some of the fidgets out before they got started. He had everything divided so that after roll call and opening announcements they could pack up and leave.

Just before announcements started Emi- Sama stuck her head in the door. "Did you find a replacement?"

"Yea, I did. Thanks for checking on us." He said with a bright smile. Eyeing the excited children, Emi-Sama gave him one last uncertain look and murmured "Good Luck".

In record time the group was on their way. It had only taken a stern lecture, two clones, and three explosions of the teacher's temper. Considering this group included Konohomaru and his friends, Iruka was feeling pretty good. It took a while to walk to the Nara property. The students were not used to carrying packs on their backs. Whenever they would complain, Iruka would remind them that a mission to any of the neighboring countries would take more than this short walk. The kids were eager to prove that they were real ninja so the complaints soon calmed into excited conversation. With each step that drew them nearer to their goal, Iruka's heart became lighter. All the hard part was over all that was left was to enjoy his time with the kids.

Iruka led them through the gate that led them onto Nara property. Shikamaru met them there and Iruka turned to address the class.

"This is Shikamaru Nara. He and his family are hosting us for the night. Notice the gate we just came through. It is usually kept locked. The Nara family raises deer. These deer will attack intruders. You may only come here with the family's permission. Do I make myself clear?" Iruka waited for affirmation from the students.

"What happens if you sneak in here?" asked Konohomaru. He looked around with an eager look on his face. Shikamaru didn't miss a beat.

"The last guy that happened to got trampled." He said in his deep lazy tone. "Lady Tsunade was able to save one of his legs at least." "It was too bad really; he was never the same again."

The student's eyes got as large as saucers. Iruka caught the twinkle in the droopy brown eyes. It made Iruka want to laugh at the look on Konohomaru's face. As far as Iruka knew no one had ever been injured on the Nara farm but the stories kept kids from sneaking onto the property to cause trouble. Iruka knew this was a good idea and did all he could to help. Their kindness to his classes was a godsend and not something he was ready to give up.

Shikamaru led the way to the lake. It was a beautiful setting, far enough away from the house not to bother the Nara's but close enough to go to for help if need be. Iruka had the children unpack their bundles according to piles. When the students were done he had them group together to discuss the importance of different aspects of the camp. They discussed the importance of shelter. What to do if you didn't have a tent. How to store food and why that was important. The fact that a raccoon tried to get into one of the packs as they talked was just an added bonus. It was a perfect example of what the teacher was saying.

Asuma arrived as the class was talking. The Jounin joined Shikamaru at the campfire as they waited for the lecture to be over. Konohomaru took this to mean that he could join his uncle. A hard look and stern finger soon had the boy back in line. Iruka was pleased. This may actually work out better than he thought.

"Asuma, good to see you." Iruka greeted the older man by shaking his hand. "Would you take one of the tents on that side of the camp and show the boys how to set it up? Afterwards we'll have them set up their own tent. Boys are over there, girls are over here," the teacher clarified. Most of the boys had been camping with their families at one time or other. They had a fair idea how to set up a tent and in no time tents were going up on the male side of camp.

The girls however had more trouble. Even for girls that camped, the men usually set up the tent while the women set up the kitchen.

"Don't Worry girls, you'll get ahead later." said the patient man. After a few false starts the tents went up and the girls were ready for the next step.

Iruka had the 30 students break into three teams. One group set up the tables and kitchen area. Konohomaru, Moegi, Udon and their friends he sent with Asuma to catch fish for dinner. He sent string and hooks along with them. One group collected wood for the fire and herbs and berries to add to the dinner. He talked Shikamaru into taking this group since he was the most familiar with the forest. It always interested Iruka to see how the kids worked together away from the academy.

Asuma's group came back wet, of course. Konohomaru had gotten fed up with the hooks and string. He and his friends waded in after the fish. His uncle was laughing at his failed attempts at fishing. Luckily, Shikaku, Chouza, and Inochi had shown up at the lake to help the kids. Some of the boys were making fun of the girls. They never would have gotten away with it if their teacher had been there. With a devilish smirk reminiscent of his son, Shikaku used the Shadow Possession Jutsu to hold the fish while the girls scooped them out of the water. In no time they had a tasty fish stew cooking slowly in the pot. The girls took full credit for the large amount of fish. While the older men covered cooking with the kids, Asuma and Iruka stretched clothes line around the camp to hang the wet clothes on.

Finally it was time for Iruka's favorite part of the camp over. He called the children over to the open area beside the fire. He had then line up, not telling them why. He counted the kids off by twos. A few of the kids began to realize what was going on and quickly separated from their friends, putting someone between them.

"I want all number ones here, their teacher dictated. I want all number twos here." When the children were once again quiet he continued.

"As part of your assignment you must participate in a mission while away on this camp out." he told his students with a smile. "These are your team mates." He indicated the two groups. "How many of you have played Capture the flag?" Several children raised their hand. "Excellent." "I know you've played." He said turning to Asuma. He remembered all the times they had played as children. Asuma smiled in agreement.

"Here are our two flags." He produced a red and a blue flag, each with the symbol of the Leaf Village. He handed one to Asuma. Your mission is of course to capture the other team's flag.

"Asuma will be the other team leader. This mission is to defend your flag while capturing the other team's flag. Enemy shin obi on your territory may be captured. Once a team mate has been captured, you may only rescue them once. Anyone captured must stay in jail to await rescue." We will have two spotters at each jail to make sure there is no cheating. He turned to the three older men.

"Who wants to watch our campsite?" Chouza nodded his head. Iruka was pleased. Chouza was a good cook to trust dinner to. The teacher had left someone in charge of camp ever since the incident two years ago when several of the boys had snuck out of the game to eat the class's supplies. He'd come back to camp to find a chocolate mess and students with stomach aches.

"Inochi would you be the spotter for our jail?" The blonde agreed.

"Shikaku, I'll leave Asuma to you." he grinned at the two men. "Can you make sure he doesn't cheat?" The Nara chuckled back. "I can handle this one, Iruka sensei." He patted the large man on the back.

Iruka turned to give his class last minute instructions. He face was alight with good humor. This was the reason his class loved him so much. He shared their childlike delight in simply having fun.

"You can use anything we've covered in class so far; genjutsu, traps, stealth techniques. Take this seriously but enjoy it. Ok? May the best team win. There will be a ten minute delay to give everyone time to hide their flag and establish a jail. Number twos, you're with me." Like the Pied Piper the teacher led his student into the forest, his students skipping along behind him.

Kakashi kept his team late on Friday night. He knew Naruto was up to something, the kid radiated mischief. The Sensei had taken a difficult mission to try to wear the kids out. They were the last ones to turn in their scroll for the day. As the team left the Hokage tower, Kakashi turned to find Naruto. The kid had already skipped out. The Copy Nin snorted under his mask. No Genin was giving him the slip. The Special Jounin went into stealth mode to follow his trouble making student.

Iruka led his students to the clearing he had scoped out for their base. It was surrounded by thick trees. It was not until one passed the tight ring of trees that the opening became apparent. He turned gleeful eyes to his students.

"We first need to asses our resources." He looked over his students. He had given Asuma the group with Konohomaru. The reason the man came was to spend time with his nephew so Iruka planned to give him that. Several of Kushushi- sensei's students were among the group. He could tell by one boy's tattooed cheeks that he was an Inuzuka. He had Hyuga Hanabi too. He knew a few kids who were good with traps too. "Ok. For the time being, I would like Hanabi- chan and Inuzuka- san to be our look outs." The two students came to him for instructions. As the boy got closer he noticed the black and white face of a Border collie peeking out of his coat.

"I'm Iruka Sensei" he introduced himself to the boy. "I'm Kel. This is Scout." The boy replied. His dog sniffed at Hanabi and wagged his tail at her giving the girl a doggie smile. Iruka was pleased to see the girl smile at the pup. She could be difficult, so this was a good sign.

"I'd like you two to scan the direction of the other camp. I don't want Asuma Sensei to sneak up on us as we get ready for them." They nodded agreement, so Iruka left then to guard the clearing. Back at base he picked out the trap setters. They were three boys and two girls and made up most of Iruka's sneakiest troublemakers. He was going to get them to make trouble for Asuma for once he thought with a chuckle.

"Now you five will be our trap setters. I know what you can do, so I want you to go all out. Put all that deviousness to work." He saw them grin back at him. One of the girls raised he hand. Iruka smiled.

"What is it Yuki?"

"I know a couple kids from the other class who are just as good as us. Can we get them to help?" she asked.

"Please do." said her sensei with a grin. "Remember, they may circle around behind us to trick us, so be thorough. He opened his backpack and gave the kids string, wire, bells and several other goodies to work with. They laughed wickedly as they took off.

The teacher came back into the clearing to find Inochi san directing the students in setting up the jail. It was well inside the clearing to make freeing the prisoners almost impossible. The flag was raised in the middle of the area to give the protectors the best chance. Iruka addressed the rest of the students.

"We need a password so that anyone using a henge won't be able to trick us." "Any suggestions?"

Several of the children had secret words to suggest. They ranged from umbrella to supercalafragilisticxpaladocious, each more elaborate than the last.

"How about 'ouch'" one girl offered. "It's simple to remember and if someone from the opposite team hears it they won't think it's a password." It caught on fast with the boys who immediately ran around yelling 'ouch', 'ouch'. It soon was unanimous. Inochi had an odd look on his face as he laughed at the children's antics.

"Be sure to tell anyone who's not here now about it." Iruka warned them. Two of the boys ran off to do just that. Iruka gathered the remaining children.

"Who wants to hunt for the flag and who wants to stay and defend?" Soon the children had divided themselves into groups. Hanabi and Kel would remain lookouts. There were six scouts to capture the other team's flag, five to defend blue team's area and two jailers. That left Iruka free to float between the teams. The group that set traps explained them to their fellow students. They were quite ingenious and they didn't want them wasted on the wrong team. The ten minutes were up and Iruka heard Hanabi yell "They're on their way." Iruka motioned for quiet and used basic scout signs to tell the students to move out.

The defenders took Kel Inuzuka to find the infiltrators from the red team. One of the boys got the idea to roll in the dirt to mask their scent.

"Good for them." Iruka thought. I need to give them extra points for taking this seriously. The Chunin checked with Yamanaka. The man talked to him using hand signs.

"The kids are really into it this year."

"Yes, I'm quite pleased." Iruka answered. The older men flew through the signs at a speed that left the school children way behind.

"I'm going to scout a little." signed the teacher.

"I'll be here." answered his counterpart.

As he left the clearing Iruka heard a scream. He turned to Hanabi who activated her Byakugan.

"We caught one." She said pointing north. Iruka nodded in reply. He moved off north to collect the infiltrator. He found one of the red team hanging by his foot way up in a tree. Using chakra, the teacher walked up the tree to release the prisoner. He had the boy wait while he reset the trap and then led him to the blue base. He could feel that he was being followed. He sent two clones to capture the follower. Cleaver plan to let one of the team to get captured, then follow them back to the blue base. He heard his clones catch the other boy. It was Konohomaru. He was not surprised. The boy was smart enough to come up with the plan but too impatient not to get caught. The blue team would have to watch it now. Asuma would be coming to get his nephew. Iruka would have to be prepared.

Kakashi finally found Naruto at Kiba's house. He listened while the boys planned the prank on the pre Genin.

"They have to be playing Capture the flag by now." said Kiba. "What took you so long?"

"Oh Baka sensei picked the longest freaking mission they had today. We just got back." replied Naruto.

"Just keep in mind my Dad's there. I don't want to get in trouble." Chouji added.

"What do you suggest?" asked Shino. He too was apprehensive about the prank. It was hard to tell Kiba 'no' but he'd seen Iruka sensei mad before and he had no desire to see him blow his top again.

Naruto began to laugh. "Let's impersonate Asuma and Iruka sensei. We can henge into them and take both flags. That won't hurt anybody but can you imagine their faces when both flags are gone." "Can you just imagine Konohomaru's face?" The blonde boy exploded with laughter.

"Chouji, all you have to do is keep your dad busy so he doesn't see us, that's not too bad, right."

"Shino, your bugs can tell us where the bases are." Kiba added. Kiba and Naruto were sure they had a full proof plan and delighted with their own genius.

Iruka was having a great time so far; his team had five red prisoners and had only lost two. He was stalking Asuma on red territory. He saw one of his students pinned down under a bush, with a red team member almost on top of her. She was keeping her head, being quiet but she just didn't have enough cover. He jutsued to the girl and got her away just in time.

"Thanks Iruka sensei." she said gratefully. He gave her a quick hug and was off to check on the other students. He stopped by Hanabi to remind her to use her Byakugan sparingly.

"I don't want you to strain your eyes."

"Alright" the girl agreed and Iruka patted her shoulder.

Kakashi summoned his dogs. He flashed through the signs and bit his thumb. In a flash of smoke he had eight Nin dogs at his beck and call.

"Pakun, I need you to take a message to Iruka sensei for me."

"What's up Boss?"

"Iruka's at a camp out with his class at the Nara's, Tell him Naruto and Kiba are on the way to prank them, but I'm going to take care of it for him. I'll meet him at the camp fire later." the dog's master said. "Tell him to save a S'more for me." The pug gave his master a smirk and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi sent the rest of the dogs to the Nara forest to be his eyes and ears, but to remain hidden from the humans until further notice. He followed Naruto and the other Genin as they left the village. He saw Naruto and Kiba henge into Iruka and Asuma. They grabbed the other two Genin by the arms to pull them along.

Unbeknownst to the Copy Nin, an Anbu also saw the henged boys. What the Black Ops man saw was two individuals with an uncertain chakra signature take on the appearance of sensei. The two individuals then took two Genin captive. They were being followed by the Copy Nin. It must be a high security infiltration. The Anbu quickly made hand signs to transport to Anbu Headquarters. Ibiki must be told immediately.

Iruka was chuckling at the antics of two of his students when he saw a small brown dog.

"Pakun, have you come to play with us?" he asked in high amusement.

"No thanks," the little pug dead panned. "I've got a message from Kakashi." He had the sensei's full attention. "He said to tell you that Naruto and some of the boys are going to prank you and the pre Genin" "He said he'd handle it, so don't worry." Iruka thought of the thirty kids he was responsible for. His hands were full. He really did need to leave it to the Copy Nin.

"Ok, Pakun. Thanks for the heads up. If Kakashi needs any help let me know."

"Oh yea, he asked me to tell you to save him a S'more for later."

Iruka laughed. "Sure thing." "Why don't you and your brothers' stop by later and I'll make sure you have a treat too, alright?

"Hmm, thanks Iruka sensei. We'll see you later then." With a puff of smoke the dog was gone.

'Those brats,' Iruka grumbled. 'As if I don't have enough going on. I hope Kakashi has something really unpleasant planned for them. I know I do.' He stomped off.

At Anbu Headquarters, Ibiki was listening to his operative describe what he had seen.

"We've been getting threats from out of Rock Country. What better way to cripple the village than to try to wipe out the pre Genin class. That could set the village back for years. We're taking no chances with this; I'm going to send out two teams. Assist Hatake in any way he requires. Bring the infiltrators to me. We'll inform the Hokage when we know more information. Eight animal faced warriors said "Hai" and were gone.

The four Genin climbed the fence onto Nara property. They headed toward the lake where the teacher always had the classes' camp. When they were about half way there, Shino sent his bugs out. The boys sat down on a log to wait for them to return.

"Man, we had so much fun playing capture the flag with Iruka sensei. Remember when Shino sent his bugs out to find Sakura and Ino. They were screaming and jumping around." He laughed hysterically. Shino had a small smile on his face too.

"Yea, Akamaru found you when you were trying to steal marshmallows." Kiba and his canine friend laughed.

"I don't know. It was kind of scary. I almost ran out of snacks on that trip." Chouji remembered.

"I believe Iruka sensei had extra that he let you have." Shino recalled. He began to feel guilty for pranking the kind hearted teacher.

The insects began returning. After a few minutes Shino had a map of the forest.

"Asuma has his base near the cave where we had our base last year. Iruka sensei has chosen a new spot about one hundred paces north of where we practiced archery last year." "Chouji, your dad is with Shikamaru at the campsite." Shino told them. Chouji's face brightened at the words.

"Well, I'm heading home." said the Aburane.

"You're not going to wait and see our prank? It's gonna be awesome!"

"Nope, I'm going home." said the bug handler. He stood up and headed for home. He knew Naruto and Kiba wouldn't change their mind but he didn't want to prank Iruka sensei. The other three boys shrugged and headed farther into the forest. Kakashi passed the boy as he was leaving.

"Well, one clear head anyway." He watched to make sure the boy made it out of the trees alright. He then headed off after the other three.

The eight Anbu just missed seeing the lone boy return home.

When Chouji entered the camp area he found his dad and Shikamaru making dessert over the fire. He forgot his mission to distract his dad in his joy at seeing his friend. All thoughts of the prank left his head as he and Shikamaru leaned back to pick out the constellations in the night sky.

Kiba and Naruto split up to find the team bases and steal the flags.

Iruka was chasing a boy who was trying to free his comrades from blue team's jail. The little monkey chortled in glee as he ran from his laughing teacher. "Run" his comrades yelled from their enclosure. Kakashi appeared in a flurry of leaves, causing the child to jump and scream like a girl. The Copy Nin smiled at the sight of his laughing friend.

"How's your hunt going?" said the younger man holding his sides.

"Naruto's almost here. I need you to hide so I can let him steal the flag."

"What?" demanded the teacher?

"Just trust me." Hatake replied handing the real flag to him. Iruka jumped up into the heavy leaf canopy. Moments later a second Iruka sensei walked into the clearing. The kids gave him an odd look but no one questioned him. He walked up to the flag.

"Oh my, this won't do." said the teacher's carbon copy. "This flag is loose on one side. I need to take it to school. I'll fix it up there, and then bring it back here."

"What's the password?" asked one of the kids. Naruto gave them a blank stare. Iruka looked at Kakashi. With an evil grin, he took an acorn off a nearby limb and chucked it at the fake teacher's head.

"Ouch" yelled Naruto.

"Ok, Iruka sensei" said the child as they all went back to guarding prisoners. Kakashi began to laugh feeling tears gather in his eyes. Iruka snorted in return as they watched the imposter leave. "I'll be back" Kakashi told Iruka, disappearing in a pile of leaves.

Iruka replaced the original flag and returned to the game.

Kiba and Akamaru watched the red team base from the bushes. They heard Asuma talking.

"Keep a watch out for the blue team. I'm going to check on the scouts." said the Jounin. The Asuma look alike watched him leave, and then made his move.

"Quick, Run! Iruka sensei's coming." said the dog Nin in disguise. He ran through the base, grabbed the flag and ran out the other side. The kids ran screaming in all directions. Pandemonium reigned.

"All clear," called the real Asuma walking into the clearing beside Kakashi. He turned to his fellow Jounin.

"Does he really think I sound that stupid?" causing the visible eye to crinkle upwards as a laugh escaped the man.

"I'm off to unmask two pranksters" the Copy Nin told his friend.

Back from the red base eight Anbu observed the actions of the imposter. Hawk spoke.

"It sounds like Hatake san is going to make his move. We need to protect the innocent children as we apprehend the infiltrators.

"Agreed," proclaimed bear. "Let's move the children toward the camp area. We need them together to protect them.

"Move out!" The Black Ops moved in a sweeping motion herding children toward, the camp. The children in Iruka's class had been trained in evacuation and so obeyed orders and stayed silent. Unfortunately some of the other class completely lost their heads. Screams and cries could be heard through the forest. The Kids who had not been approached by the Anbu also became scared, fleeing every which way.

Iruka sensei heard the laughs of his children turn to screams. He and Inochi directed the children at blue base to run to the camp and alert Chouza and Shikamaru to help. Iruka grabbed a kunai in each hand and ran at top speed to protect the children in danger.

Iruka and Inochi landed in a clearing with a handful of screaming children confronted by eight Anbu.

"What's the meaning of this?" demanded the teacher. The pre Genin ran to him, grabbing onto his pants and the tail of his shirt.

"Umino san, we are trying to get the children to safety, but they won't move all they do is scream." 'Well no shit' thought Iruka, looking at the animal masks of the most feared killers in Fire Country.

"Iruka sensei, there are infiltrators in the woods. We've been sent to assist Kakashi Hatake in apprehending them." reported hawk.

'Oh dear god' thought the Chunin as he started to understand what had happened.

"Where are the rest of the children?" he asked.

"We sent them to the camp so we could better protect them."

"You're going to have someone to protect alright" he seethed the teacher. He'd kill Naruto for this. Skin him alive at the very least.

"We need to find Kakashi." He knew it would be best to have the exAnbu explain everything to the warriors. He didn't think the grim men would believe them that it was a prank.

They quickly made their way to the camp area. It was hard for Iruka to move with ten frightened children clinging to him but they made it.

There they found frightened children sitting beside the fire. Inochi, Shikaku, and Chouza were at attention, weapons at the ready. Shikamaru and Chouji were behind the kids to protect from the other direction. Kakashi held the collars of Asuma and Iruka tightly. They each held a flag in their hand. As Iruka and the Anbu came from the left side, Kel and a few stragglers came from the right. They had been the last to be informed of the raid.

Kel sniffed the air. He walked up to Kakashi and the fake Asuma with a puzzled look on his face.

"Kiba, why are you impersonating Asuma sensei?" His keen nose had picked his cousin out immediately.

"Kel, I didn't know you were here." With that the older Inuzuka dropped his henge and Kiba stood beside Kakashi. Naruto also dropped his henge.

"Ha! We just pranked you Iruka sensei. We got both your flags." The blonde boy gave a big smile and began to giggle uncontrollably. "Isn't it great?"

"Actually, no you didn't." said his Jounin sensei. Kakashi dropped the henge and both Kiba and Naruto were left holding bare branches. Naruto's face fell and some of the pre Genin began to laugh.

"OH NO"

"Uzumaki Naruto do you know what you've done!!!" screamed his ex teacher. The children swore they could see the eyes bug out of their sensei's head.

"There are eight Anbu standing right there who think you are infiltrators and are waiting to take you prisoner. What do you think Hokage Sama is going to say about that?" The thirteen year old began to look very small, as his shoulders slumped. He really didn't want to go to prison.

Looking at the boy, Iruka knew what he had said was true, but he also knew he would die before he let anything happen to the knuckle headed ninja. He turned to Kakashi.

"What do we do now?"

"Well, I suspect I need to go talk to Ibiki." replied the silver haired man.

"I need to stay with the students." said Iruka, looking over the tired, hungry, and scared kids.

Kakashi addressed the Anbu. "I don't suppose two of you fine gentlemen could escort these boys home while I talk to Ibiki? Hawk nodded and two of the Anbu moved forward to take the two troublemakers.

Naruto gave his senseis a desperate look. "Go home and stay there until I get there" said the Copy Nin sternly. Both boys hung their heads and headed out with the men. Kakashi saw that it was all Iruka could do not to follow after his favorite blonde.

"Leave it to me, I'll get it sorted out and be back." He promised his friend. He and the remaining Anbu left in a swirl of leaves.

Iruka turned to his students. "All that hard work and we didn't even get a winner." He toned sadly.

"Excuse me Iruka sensei." The teacher turned to find a small pug addressing him. He was accompanied by the rest of Kakashi's Nin dogs. "You actually do have a winner. Kakashi had us posted in the forest. Just before all the chaos Buru and Akino" here the dog pointed at the bull dog and the dog with spectacles "saw Kel Inuzuka and two other boys run through red camp and steal their flag. It was executed fairly and should be a win." Iruka's team irrupted into shouts of victory and the mood began to lighten.

"Kids you all played well. Let's eat and break out the marshmallows." The kids cheered and chaos threatened to reign again.

Two hours later, Iruka and Asuma were finally able to set beside the fire. The kids had been fed and for the most part were asleep. In a swirl of leaves Kakashi and Ibiki walked into the firelight and took a seat.

"Damn it Iruka, this is why you're supposed to inform me when you have an over nighters." said the head of interrogations.

"But I did." responded the teacher. "I sent the form with Anko last week when she was in the mission's office." Anko and Ibiki had been dating for some time now. It was supposed to be a secret so of course, everyone knew.

"Oh," the interrogator seemed to remember his date handing him a piece of paper. Somehow or other he never quite got around to reading it. His hot little date had taken the thought right out of his head.

"Well," the man blustered. "Everything's worked out now." "I'll leave the boy's punishment up to you two." "Make it good." The older man said gruffly and left once again.

Kakashi looked at the two chaperones. "You got any marshmallows left?"

"Oh yea, we got chocolate too." Iruka threw the bag to the silver haired man. "We definitely need chocolate."

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

A/n If you wondered what a S'more is, it's a toasted marshmallow with half a chocolate bar between two graham crackers. The hot marshmallow melts the chocolate and sticks the sandwich together. Very tasty.

All that's left is a short epilogue. It's not nearly as long as the last chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Review and tell me how I did.


	3. Chapter 3

Greetings, This is a story for my husband, a teacher like Iruka sensei. Some of his experiences were my inspiration for this story.

Monday afternoon Izumo and Kotetsu cornered Iruka as soon as he came into the Mission's office.

"We hear you had a little excitement Friday night." His friends grinned at him. He figured they'd find out. After all they had guard duty all weekend.

"So how did you get back at the yard apes." asked Kotetsu. He knew Iruka would find some way to make the boys pay.

"On Sunday the boys came in and washed all 280 desks in the school, while I got my grading done. Naruto seemed to think I wasn't serious, so He washed all the hallways too." "Kiba was telling me that Tsume was so upset that she made him wash out all the kennels at the Inuzuka compound with a tooth brush."

The Chunin were laughing at the punishments when Kakashi and his team came in to turn in their mission scroll. Instead of his normal team, he was accompanied by Kiba, Naruto, Shino and Chouji. The boys smelled to high heaven. Leaf ninja all throughout the room began leaving hurriedly.

"What happened? Iruka asked trying not to gag.

"We had an exciting mission today Iruka sensei. It seems that the sewer department needed some help unclogging one of the sewers. Nasty business, but someone's got to do it." The Copy Nin's eye turned up and his whole attitude was one of satisfaction.

"Please Iruka sensei, we're really sorry. We won't do anything like that again." said Kiba. Even Akamaru had deserted him because of his stench.

"Yea, Iruka sensei. Don't make us go on any more missions like this. I promise I'll behave." pleaded Naruto. His blue eyes were huge on his dirty face. Iruka could hardly tell his suit was orange.

"We promise." Echoed Chouji and Shino nodded in agreement.

At this point Iruka would have agreed to anything just to get them out of the room.

"Alright, we'll call this even. And I have your promise to work hard and behave right?"

The boys nodded miserably.

"Go home and use lots of soap." The sensei told them. "Naruto wash that jumpsuit in the washer, twice. "he added. He had known Naruto to shower wearing his clothes to wash them and he didn't want that happening this time. The boys left taking most of the stink with them.

"I've got to hand it to you." he told his friend. "How could you stand that all day?"

"Little thing I learned in Anbu. Shuts down the olfactory senses,"

"So you're saying you can't smell?" asked Iruka with envy.

"Not a blessed thing." replied his friend with relief.

"You're an evil man, Kakashi" the teacher said with a laugh, and his friends joined in.


End file.
